New to this and First Kart build... GOING BIG

[Griffy76]

Hey everyone very very green to this. My brother inlaw and myself are new to the fabrication family. But we like to test our abilities so we have decided to build a offroad kart. Because we are new to this we are going to keep our costs as low as possible see how we do on this. Then we will design and build the 2.0 version after.

We will be definitely need all the advice and help you are all willing to offer during this build.

We have priced out our steel and placed our order. We currently have a 15hp Vert. Shaft motor(but by looks of things useless to us do to complicated conversion) and a 10 HP horiz. from a snowblower. We will be making it a side by side 2 seater.

If anyone has any advise up front it would be greatly appretiated.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

My advice: Make sure your welds are brilliant before building your own frame. Breaking up at speed is a heckuva way to discover your penetration sucked...

Have you found some examples similar to what you wish to build?

 

[Griffy76]

not yet have drawn up some idea's but the ones i can find i dont like. But that being said I have not looked through all the builds on here yet.

my biggest worry is that our 10 HP is not going to be enough for 350 plus frameing. Our desired speed is 30-45 km/h

and should have mentioned we have a Lincoln welder with both of us having some intermediate skill with mig

 

[mysteryboy28]

vertical shaft won't work. 10hp is barely enough to enjoy a single-seater, let alone a 2-seater. however, if you gear it to go SLOW, it'll move.

best bet is gonna be a snowmobile motor, if you want any balls or thrill factor. but it'll be dangerous building something like that for your first time. so build a single seater with the 10hp motor to fine-tune your skills, then graduate to the more powerful 2-seater later.

 

[Griffy76]

Thanks for the advice. Was looking at possibly getting a 440 from a sled just worried that it being air cooled it would burn out do to lack of suffice coolign

 

[mysteryboy28]

fan cooled sled motors are great on buggies (i've built some with both fan cooled and liquid cooled). just be sure to watch the 2-stroke oil level! premixing is a good option, although if the oil injection is working good, leave it on. never know if someone might accidentally just put straight gas in without premixing - burning up your motor! lol.

i've got a nice 440 kawasaki sled sitting in my yard that runs great that i only paid $40 for.

 

[OzFab]

Griffy, listen to ^^this guy^^, he's on his fourth buggy build right now so, he knows what he's doin'

 

[Griffy76]

i've got a nice 440 kawasaki sled sitting in my yard that runs great that i only paid $40 for.

I wish I could find one that cheap around here lol. Almost bought whole sled for 150 but buddy sold it on me the day i went to pick it up. Biggest waste of $40 of fuel.

 

[Griffy76]

Griffy, listen to ^^this guy^^, he's on his fourth buggy build right now so, he knows what he's doin'

I completely agree lol have been looking through on some of his builds. and Mystery has some mad skills.

 

[Griffy76]

fantastic news going to pick up our steel next week got what I think is a "steel" of a deal sorry couldn't resist the pun. 1"x1" .083 for 69 cents/foot.

Also have got a new used engine for free a 340cc from an arctic cat 3000

 

[mysteryboy28]

get the WHOLE sled, and in one piece, so you can figure out how it comes apart and goes back together. plus there will be lots of parts on it you can use, like nuts n bolts, spare belt (maybe), and most importantly the whole motor mount frame.

 

[OzFab]

fantastic news going to pick up our steel next week got what I think is a "steel" of a deal sorry couldn't resist the pun.

:toetap05:

 

[Griffy76]

get the WHOLE sled, and in one piece, so you can figure out how it comes apart and goes back together. plus there will be lots of parts on it you can use, like nuts n bolts, spare belt (maybe), and most importantly the whole motor mount frame.

We got the whole sled. We are picking it up on the weekend. I went lastnight to take a look at it, couldnt get it to start but its been sitting for a long time the guy said. It does pull easy and cycles but does not fire up. So will have my work cut out there I think.

 

[mysteryboy28]

hmmm. from past experience i have found that there could be several reasons for not firing up. low compression, which will mean it needs a upper-end rebuild. clogged up carb, which may be as simple as a quick cleaning, or as complicated as a carb rebuild with new parts. ignition problem, which could be as simple as a new set of spark plugs, or as complicated as electronics.

if the guy said it runs, and upon inspection you can't get it to run - knock the price down and ask for a guarantee that you can get it to run. if not, you wan't to be able to get your money back!

do a compression check before you hand over any money. if it's below 110 psi per cylinder, you're not gonna get much riding time before it's gonna need a rebuild. i won't buy a motor unless it has at least 120 psi. look up the proper way to test compression. you do NOT want to add oil to a cylinder for testing (be sure he hasn't either), because you will get a false good reading.

 

[Griffy76]

see that is the best part it is free for me to take. So not to worried if I have to put a little bit into the motor. I planned on cleaning the carb and doing a compression test to start with.

 

[mysteryboy28]

ah, k i didn't see the "free" part. good luck with your build, and hopefully my build threads will help you with yours!

 

[loud1]

I wish we could get good deals on sleds here in Missouri, but we just don't get enough snow here anymore to have a surplus of them. In the '80's i could pick em up for free, now I'd be lucky just to find one.

 

[mysteryboy28]

I wish we could get good deals on sleds here in Missouri, but we just don't get enough snow here anymore to have a surplus of them. In the '80's i could pick em up for free, now I'd be lucky just to find one.

then motorcycle motor it is!

if you're not worried about reverse, then a 4-cycle bike motor should be pretty easy to throw on a kart/buggy.

 

[Griffy76]

Sorry I don't have any pictures up yet of the concept or beginning of the build. Going to the ATV graveyard tonight to see if I can get the Jag 3000 running.

Will post pics tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Griffy76]

So after playing with this motor for the last few nights. I finally got it running. And what was the issue..... faulty kill switch wish I would have checked that first lol.

Here is a Pic of the Engine still in the sled.